Money is in reality just an embodiment, a condensation, a materialization of a network of social relations… -Slavoj Žižek
After hundreds of hours pushing dyed sand, grain by grain, with a razor blade, the $1000 mandala is done. The evidence of my labour is visible in the missing paint that my butt rubbed off the floor!
And once the exhibition was over…
Learn more about my Mandala series here.
Reporter Ruschell Boone from NY1 stopped by Flux Factory before Debt+ opened to have a look around and a preview of the exhibition. I barely recognize the mandala now that I am in the home stretch!
Be sure to stop by June 24 at 7pm to see the Closing Performances and to see the finished mandala before it is swept away.
According to The Gothamist, swinging by Flux Factory to see Debt+ is one of 20 Ways To Make Your June Jubilant! Who doesn’t want to be more jubilant?
Art F City has also called it one of This Weeks Must See Art Events.
June 24, 7pm: Closing Performances including the completed $1000 Mandala
The American Mandala I am creating is of the now defunct $1000 bill featuring Grover Cleveland. This amount reflects Flux Factory’s rent when they opened their doors in 1993 – an amount that seems impossibly low today. The $1000 bill was withdrawn from circulation in 1969 due to its use by organized crime. With the rise of electronic transactions, the need for larger denominations has dissipated, yet they remain rare collector’s items worth more than their face value.
Gallery Hours: Thursday–Saturday 12-6pm, June 4-24
I have just come across a very thoughtful blog post about igNIGHT and my newest work The Light.
Check it out on McMurray Musings.
The Light remains on view in Jubilee Plaza in Fort McMurray until all the lights burn out.
I am very pleased to announce that my newest, and brightest work will be premiered at igNIGHT!
Hosted by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo igNIGHT seeks to reimagine, transform, and energize public spaces. My work will honour the final days of the tungsten light bulb.
As of 2015 the light bulb as we know it will no longer be produced in North America. While this marks an advance in environmental responsibility, it also marks the death of a technology that changed the world. As the light bulb fades into the past, my newest work will function as an epitaph that invites contemplation of change, hope, passage and death.
igNIGHT begins October 23rd, in Fort McMurray and although the festival only lasts for ten days, my work will be on display until the end of the year to accommodate its time-based nature.
Shlomi Greenspan and I proudly presented Untitled (It’s Almost a One-Liner) at The New Gallery in Calgary at the end of 2014, and at Harcourt House in Edmonton during the spring of 2015 .
Sky Goodden’s essay accompanied the show – you can read it here.
The Calgary Herald’s Swerve Magazine recommended our show and featured an interview with us by Craig R. Palmer.
The Edmonton Examiner‘s Doug Johnson discussed the show’s uncanny juggling act between performance art and installation.
Getting to know the local art communities was great, and it won’t be long before we’re back.
Shlomi Greenspan and I will be presenting our piece Untitled (It’s Almost a One-Liner) Saturday October 4th during Toronto’s Nuit Blanche.
The Queen St. West B.I.A., in association with MuchFACT and Much, is presenting its sixth annual all-night exhibition of art and music by Canadian independent artists. Out of Site 2014 features six Nuit Blanche independent projects curated by Earl Miller, which consider the theme of humour in public art.
Hamilton Arts & Letters Magazine has published an insightful article by Paul Rocca about Untitled (It’s almost a one-liner). You can read it here.
Back in 2012 when I was getting ready for Nuit Blanche, a TV crew from Rendez-vous followed us around for months filming the process of putting together such a large installation. The episode aired in July on CBC’s ICI ARTV.
Visit ICI ARTV for info.
Sarah Beck 